Two Four Six Eight
by Fandoms2135
Summary: Daniel Howell and Philip Lester had been best friends for most of their lives. Dan was just a baby whenever he met two year old Phil. The age difference never bothered the boys. Not when Phil was six and Dan was four, not when Phil was sixteen and Dan was fourteen, and when Phil was eighteen and Dan was sixteen, it was no different.
1. Chapter 1

Daniel Howell and Philip Lester had been best friends for most of their lives. Dan was just a baby whenever he met two year old Phil. At the time, neither of them knew how big of an impact they would have on each others lives.

The age difference never bothered the boys. Not when Phil was six and Dan was four, not when Phil was sixteen and Dan was fourteen, and when Phil was eighteen and Dan was sixteen, it was no different.

"Dannnn." Phil whined from the bottom of his stairs, "C'mon, if you don't hurry, we're going to be late." He warned, leaning against the pillar with a sigh.

Dan rushed down the stairs, tripping on the last step, stumbling into his older best friend's arm, "S-sorry." He said, his face turning a strange shade of pink.

"It's fine, but I asked Courtney if she wanted to go." Phil informed the younger, throwing him a jacket, "I left my car running, so let's go."

Dan caught the jacket, frowning to himself when Phil mentioned Courtney. Phil hadn't been in a relationship since he was fifteen, and Dan preferred him whenever he didn't have a love interest, "Well shut it off." Dan said suddenly, snapping back into reality, grabbing a set of keys.

"Dan, what the hell are you doing?" Phil asked, rolling his eyes, "Do you remember what happened last time?"

Dan turned, his face filled with obvious hurt as he turned, "D-did you forget?" He asked quietly.

"Forget what..?" Phil asked, his gaze shifting to the ground.

"I texted you about it." Dan muttered, shaking his head.

"Oh, shit, Dan I-I'm sorry, I've just been with Court all day, and haven't even bothered to turn my phone on." Phil said, "But we've got to go, so tell me what happened." He opened the door, walking out of it.

"I passed." Dan muttered, setting the keys back on the counter, following Phil out of his house.

"So, what did you want to tell me?" Phil asked, slipping into the driver seat of his car.

Dan shook his head, "Nothing, it's not important." He muttered, and Phil just shrugged.

The rest of the car ride was Phil going on about Courtney, but Dan decided to stop listening. They picked the brunette girl up at her house, and Dan was forced to sit in the back, and listen to the pair go on about how much they loved each other. It was sickening.

Dan's parents had gotten four tickets to see some college play, but something had popped up, so they had gave the tickets to Dan. Dan had decided to take his only friend, who decided his girlfriend could come with them.

None of them ended up knowing what the show was about. The couple had been too busy with each other to pay attention, and Dan was too busy hating his life.

Dan had never been more relieved than when the lights came on. He quickly picked up his jacket, and urged the couple on. When they got outside of the theatre, Dan realized that it had grown cold. It was cold, even for London, and it was summer. Whenever it got cold and they were out and about, Dan and Phil tended to walk close together. People always assumed they were together, but they didn't ever care, they were warm, and that's what mattered to them. But that day was different. Dan was approximately six steps behind the pair, and nobody seemed to care. He bit his lip, trying to not cry as he walked through the cold air.

Phil stopped at his driver's side, cuddling with Courtney, very obviously not wanting to let her go.

Dan groaned and rolled his eyes, grabbing Phil's keys from him, and slipping into the driver's side.

"Dan, um isn't that a bit.. illegal?" Phil asked, going to take the keys from the brunette.

'So, now you talk to me.' Dan thought as he shook his head, "Actually, no. I got my license." He stated, putting the key into the ignition.

"When'd this happen?" Phil questioned, still not believing the younger.

"Earlier today." He shrugged, "I called you like three times, and blew up your phone, but you never answered. And then, earlier you didn't care. But yes, I got my license"

Phil shrugged, making Dan's anger grow, and climbed in the back, dragging the girl with him.

The drive back to Courtney's was hell for Dan. He listened to the two being in love, while driving along, trying not to shout. Then Phil stood outside, making out with her for around twenty minutes before sliding back into the passenger side of his car.

"Hey, I'm gonna stay with you tonight." Phil informed him before falling into a deep happy fantasy.

Dan nodded and then made his way back to his house, keeping quiet the entire time. Once home, he threw Phil's keys back at him before advancing back into his house. Dan went up to his bedroom and practically collapsed onto his bed.

"Isn't Courtney great?" Phil asked with a wide smile, leaning against Dan's door frame.

"Mhm." Dan muttered into his sheets.

"What's wrong?" Phil asked, concern only filling half his voice.

"Nothing." Dan lied.

"Daniel, don't lie."

"I said nothing." Dan grumbled, obvious annoyance littering his voice.

"Now why are you upset?" Phil questioned softly.

"I'm not." Dan yelled, going to push past Phil.

"Calm the hell down." Phil yelled back.

"No, okay?" Dan tried to push past his older friend, but was once again held back, "Stop."

"You stop, you've been nothing but shitty this entire night."

"Oh like you've payed attention to me at all tonight." Dan huffed.

"So that's what this is about? You're jealous." Phil accused.

"Maybe I am."

"Oh my fucking God." Phil rolled his eyes, huffing slightly.

"We've hung out twice this summer, Phil, twice!" Dan roared back, finally letting his anger explode, "You told me you'd always pick me over some girl, and look how well that's worked out. Phil, I miss you. After this summer, you're a senior. You're going to leave me, and go to America, and what the hell am I going to do? I have one friend, and now all you're doing is blowing me off."

"Well I'm sorry I'm growing up. I'm sorry I don't have time for you anymore. I'm sorry I have an actual life."

"Phil." Dan quieted down, tears welling in his eyes, "You have been my only friend since I was a baby. I can't remember a time when you weren't around. And now you're almost gone. I miss you. I miss our pool days, and scooping out cute girls we'd never talk to. And I'm happy that you're in a relationship, I am. But you have to realise, soon you're going to graduate, and go to Harvard, and settle down, and move to, I don't know, York. And you're going to have a couple kids, and you're just going to forget about me slowly. Then, one day you'll come home, and find old pictures of us, and it's going to take you a minute to remember my name, and then you'll smile at all of our memories, but Phil." Dan choked, tears streaming from his brown, doe like eyes, "I don't want that. I want you to remember me always, Phil, I want to be your best friend forever. I just want to spend this last year with you." He whispered before bursting into sobs, his knees buckling beneath him.

Phil's heart practically shattered as he watched his best friend break down, "Dan, no, Dan." He whispered, rushing over to the brunette, "Shh. I'm sorry. Please, calm down."

That was just the thing, Dan couldn't calm down. His breathing became short and heavy, his body started trembling, and his face was soon drenched in sweat. His crying just became heavier, and Phil watched as his best friend of sixteen years looked as if he couldn't breathe.

"Dan, Dan." Phil tried to coo the boy, pulling him into a tight hug. He had watched Dan have panic attacks before, and they were the worst. He couldn't do anything to make the younger feel better. He had to just watch him tear himself up inside, "Dan, please listen," He whispered, knowing it wouldn't help, but hoping it might, "You did nothing wrong. I have been a dick this summer. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean any of it, Dan, please. I just want you to be happy, please, Dan, please." He muttered, pulling the brown-eyed boy closer.

Despite his hopes, Phil's cooing didn't help Dan at all. It actually made it worse, and the night went like that until Dan became too tired to continue, and fell asleep, tears still streaming down his face, his body still trembling, and his breathing still short. He felt cold to Phil, so he wrapped a blanket around the younger boy, keeping him still tight in his arms.

"I love you so much, Dan." Phil whispered to the sleeping boy, pulling him as close to his body as he could. Phil waited for Dan to calm down in his sleep before even closing his eyes. He tightened his grip on the younger boy. Like that, they fell asleep. Dan wrapped up in Phil's arms, protected from the world around them. If only that would remain the case for the rest of the days.


	2. Chapter 2

Dan woke up to Phil's arms around him. He furrowed his brow as he realized they were on the floor, "What the...?" He started before remembering the events of the day before. He sighed loudly, wanting nothing more than to be able to slap himself. He couldn't do anything, however as Phil's arms were restricting his grip.

Whenever Phil woke up, he automatically freaked out. Why was he on the ground? Why were his arms around something? Why was that something Dan? He briefly remembered Dan's yelling, his yelling, then the rest of the events. Dan was already awake, he noticed this shortly after he woke. "Hey," He said, his voice groggy. He realized he still had his arms around Dan, and he quickly removed them.

Once Dan registered that Phil's arms were no longer around him, he rolled a little ways from him, his face turning red, "Hi," He replied, his voice small and timid.

Phil offered a small smile, realizing how pusillanimous Dan was acting, "You okay?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at the younger boy.

Dan nodded, standing, grabbing onto the edge of his bed for support, "Yeah, I'm fine, um breakfast?" He asked, checking the time on his phone.

"Oh, yes, food!" Phil exclaimed, standing alongside Dan.

Dan's parents were away at a wedding, or something, and his brother was away with a friend. Whenever everybody would be home, Dan had no idea.

The boys found there way down the stairs, into the kitchen. After many minutes of arguing, the boys decided on pancakes. Dan got the ingredients from the pantry as Phil found the dishes required.

The batter got mixed, but not without it making a huge mess on both of the boys, and before the knew it, pancakes were baking.

The two of them got so caught up in their random singing, they didn't realize whenever the pancakes started to burn. Only did they realize whenever Dan went to flip one.

"Phil," Dan called to the other side of the kitchen, eyes widening at the sight that laid in front of him.

Phil approached the stove where Dan stood, "Yes, Daniel?" He replied.

Dan couldn't help, but laugh at himself while looking at the ruined food in front of him, "Are pancakes suppose to be black?" He asked, examining both sides of their ruined breakfast.

Phil's eyes widened at the sight, and he joined in with Dan's laughing, "I don't know. Maybe you should eat one," He suggested, taking a seat at the counter behind him.

"Yeah, probably not," Dan responded, flipping the other pancakes in the pan, "Phil," He whined, throwing his head back, "They're all burnt."

Phil tried to contain his laughter watching the pancakes being flipped one by one. Sure enough, each one was more burned than the next, "Dan, I think it's safe to say that we're not going to be the next trendy breakfast chefs."

Dan flipped a pancake at the other, trying to keep a serious face, "Oh, screw you," He said, scraping the rest of the pancakes into the trash. Whenever he reentered the kitchen, he sat next to Phil, "What now?" He asked, sighing deeply.

"We could always retry," Phil said, his usual can do attitude showing through.

Dan pushed Phil off of the stool he had been sitting on, "No," He declared, his voice deadpanned, "That's too much effort."

Phil chuckled as he sat back on his stool, "Well, we've got to do something."

"Or we could just starve," Dan suggested, standing up to recheck the pantry.

Phil followed, "We both know we would rather be murdered than starve to death."

"You and your logic," Dan teased, skimming the shelves of food.

Phil picked up a box of cereal, walking back into the kitchen.

"Do you think you live here or something?" Dan asked following shortly after him, "Do you think you can just take any of my food, or use any of my bowls?"

"Yes, actually," Phil replied almost immediately, pouring some milk over the top of the now full bowl of cereal.

Dan rolled his eyes, grabbing his own bowl for cereal, "Well then, I guess you're welcome to anything in my house."

"As you are mine," Phil replied, walking to Dan's living room. He sat down in a chair that he had proclaimed 'his chair' the first time he and Dan had pulled an all nighter there.

Dan joined him shortly after, laying on the couch next to the chair.

The boys ate in silence for a short period of time before Netflix got turned on. They watched whatever came up, continuing to eat their breakfast.

At about two in the afternoon, the two decided they wanted lunch. After the pancake fiasco, however, they decided it would be better to just go out and grab food somewhere.

"Dan," Phil whined as he watched Dan straighten his hair, "You're taking fourteen hours."

Dan groaned, "It's been like twenty minutes," He corrected, running the heated iron down an already straight piece of hair, "Calm down."

"It's been fourteen hours if you round to the nearest fourteen," Phil insisted, "Remember, I can do math better than you."

The younger boy laughed, finally shutting off his straighter off, "There, and I didn't even take fifteen hours."

These were the kind of conversations Dan missed. The random, silly conversations about nothing in general. He missed Phil, and his random knowledge about random things. When Phil would complain about how long it took Dan to do his hair, or pick out an outfit.

After much arguing, mostly on Dan's part, Phil agreed to let him drive. Dan happily skipped downstairs, grabbing his keys off of the counter. He dragged Phil to the vessel, hurrying into the front seat. Then came their next argument. What to eat?

The debate lasted no less than ten minutes before they finally agreed on Chinese food. As they set off, Phil asked the question Dan had been trying to avoid all day.

"Hey, do you mind if Courtney comes?"


	3. Chapter 3

Hey, y'all. Sorry these stories haven't been updated in literally forever, but i got dumped again recently and it sucks and my sadness would reflect in my writing and we don't want that. But i haven't given up on these stories yet, i promise.


	4. Chapter 4

What do you say to that? No your girlfriend can't come because I hate her? No, your girlfriend can't come because that makes me like the ultimate third-wheel? These thoughts ran through Dan's head as Phil called his girlfriend, informing Dan that they'd have to make a detour to her house before going to the restaurant.

As Dan drove through Courtney's neighborhood, ultimately stopping at a light blue house on the end of the street. The girl entered the car, and Phil immediately changed to the backseat, wrapping his lanky arms around the girl tightly. It took everything in Dan not to scream as he turned the radio up louder as to drown out the abundance of love happening in the backseat.

Whenever they arrived at the restaurant, Dan shut the car off and got out not giving it a second look as he locked it behind him. He reluctantly got a table for three, sitting beside Phil while he sat across from the apparent love of his life. He piled his plate with food, trying his best to stall going back to sit with them. He ate his food fast, the other two? Not so much. They took their sweet time, laughing and loving and doing everything that made Dan want to stab his own eyes out with a pen. He sipped on his drink, checking his phone for what seemed like the hundredth time in a half hour, trying to make himself not look so awkward.

What seemed like an eternity later, they were finally back in the car. Dan the only one in the front seat, obviously. Finally, they pulled up to Courtney's house and Phil leaned up to Dan.

"Hey, man," Phil whispered, putting a hand on the other's shoulders for support, "I know I was going to go back to your house and play Mario Kart all day or whatever, but would you mind if I stay here? I feel like I haven't seen her in forever."

All Dan wanted to do was turn around, fling Phil's hand off of his shoulder, and tell him exactly why he did mind. "I do mind," He'd yell, "I mind because you already told me we'd hang out. You told me you'd stay with me while I was the only one at home. I mind because one day she's just going to up and leave you and you'll expect me to pick up the pieces, and of course I'll do it because you've been my best friend for literally forever, but I'm not just some second choice. Especially yours, I'm not your second choice." None of this, of course, came out of Dan's mouth as he nodded, "Okay," He muttered, "Come by later if you want."

"You're the best," Phil said, patting him on the shoulder as he stepped out of the car.

Once he could see both people, mostly Phil, were inside, Dan sped off turning the radio up enough that he couldn't hear his own thoughts. He wasn't aware that he was crying until it was so bad he could barely see the road ahead of him. He pulled to the side of the road, putting his car in park before hitting the steering wheel as hard as he could. He laid his head on the top of the wheel, grossly sobbing as his mind ran wild with thoughts.

Thoughts about not being good enough, thoughts about all of the things he could have done in order to make Phil want to still spend time with him, thoughts about why he was never anybody's first choice, thoughts about anything and everything. When he finally could see again, he wiped his eyes with one hand, and he put his car in drive with the other. He didn't check his mirror and before he knew it, his car was flying across the median. The last thing Dan remembered was his screaming as the top of the car hit the roadway.

They called all of his emergency contacts, but both of his parents were far away at a wedding, his brother would be no help as he was five years younger than Dan, so the only person left was Phil. Phil was there as fast as he could be, arguing with the nurses when he found out the unit Dan was in was 'family only'

"I'm the only thing close that's even remotely related to him," Phil all but screamed at a nurse, "You have to let me in," His voice faltered at the end of the sentence, tears finally forming in his eyes.

The nurse sighed, "It's hospital policy, but I'll see what I can do," She promised him as she turned to leave.

The doctor's all said he would be fine, some cuts and bruises, some broken bones, and maybe some surgeries but all and all he was relatively lucky for the severity of the crash.

Phil waited for hours in the waiting room, hands tugging at his hair as he silently cried. This was all his fault, all of it. Had he just gone with Dan like planned, none of this would have happened. Dan would be fine, everything would have been fine. After visiting hours, Phil stayed. He couldn't leave. He hadn't told his parents, but they wouldn't think anything of it, he was suppose to be at Dan's house anyways.

The same nurse from before, her shift coming to an end, came up to Phil. She nodded him into the hallway. Phil ran, he actually ran, into the hallway following the nurse into the room where Dan was.

Phil broke down again whenever he saw Dan. He had seen Dan look bad hundreds of times. He had seen him break down and cry, he had seen him sick, he had seen him at his absolute worse, but this was the worst thing he'd even seen.

There were needles everywhere, tubes sticking out of places tubes shouldn't go, and he was hooked onto a machine to help him breath. Phil sat in a chair beside the bed, automatically taking Dan's hand in his own. He looked like he would be asleep for awhile, so Phil just watched him breath through his tears.

"I'm sorry," Phil finally choked out, "I shouldn't have left you, this is all my fault."


	5. Chapter 5

For several weeks, Phil didn't leave the hospital other than whenever he would go home to shower, and occasionally sleep. He stopped going to school, he rarely saw his girlfriend, he rarely did anything other than cry and worry about Dan. Dan wasn't awake much, and only certain nurses would let him go back. That didn't matter to him, he just knew that he had to be there if Dan needed him. His parents weren't happy with his new life, it wasn't healthy for him, but Phil didn't care.

Little by little, Dan healed. It was a slow, treacherous process, but he did it. His days were boring, as ones would be if they were kept hooked up in a hospital dead all day, but nothing helped him through everything more than knowing that Phil was always there for him. He didn't see him often, and it was always only for short periods of time, but his parents assured him everyday that the other boy was still there. He was always there.

One day, almost a month after the initial accident, Phil managed to sneak into Dan's room whenever his parents had left for a little while.

Half-asleep, paler than usual, hair getting too long, Dan had managed to stay awake as Phil snuck into his room, "Hey," He greeted, the words getting gargled in his throat.

Pain ran through Phil as he sat next to Dan, putting a smile on, "Hey," He responded back, taking in the ghost-like look in the other boy's eyes.

"I haven't seen you-" Dan started to say, but nodded off before starting to speak again, "I haven't seen you in a while," He finished the sentence, eyes falling shut momentarily before he snapped them open again.

Phil's heart twisted, but he didn't let his face fall, "Yeah, no, they just don't want me to see you, I guess," He took in the exposed parts of Dan's skin, seeing the bruises that adorned it were fading. Some were still dark purple, but some were starting to look more yellow. He watched the boy fall in and out of consciousness as he spoke, "I can leave," He said softly, "I don't mind, if you want to get some sleep."

There wasn't much of a verbal protest from Dan, but he did whine slightly, reaching as far as he could trying to reach for Phil.

Phil reached back for Dan, doing his best to make the moving Dan had to do minimal, "Okay," He said, their hands meeting, "Okay, I'll stay," He promised, "But you can sleep," He promised, gripping his best friend's hand, in a way trying to make everything better. Trying to take back everything that had happened.

"'M fine," Dan said, his voice sounding almost like a child's, "I don't need to sleep."

Phil laughed, knowing that was a lie, but he didn't say anything, "Okay, if you say so." He went to talk again, but Dan was already asleep. Phil shook his head, reaching out, pushing Dan's hair off of his forehead. In his sleep, he looked younger, more innocent, and it hurt Phil even more to look at. To remember the boy he once knew that was so alive, so full of laughter and life. He knew what had dragged the life out of Dan, and he knew that after he was out of the hospital, everything would be worse.

Watching the even breathing of the boy in front of him, the rising of his chest, the way his eyelids fluttered, it made Phil's eyes start to tear up. Knowing that because of him everything in Dan's life had changed. It pained him to think about what they could have done together in the past month, the levels of games they could have beat, the amount of Chinese takeout that they could have consumed, everything that they could have done.

They stayed like that, hands clumsily intertwined, Dan asleep while Phil silently cried, then Phil fell asleep.

Dan woke up several times throughout the night, but he didn't ever disturb Phil. Several nurses came in and out of the room, but none of them disturbed the boys.

Phil woke up the next morning before Dan and before Dan's parents arrived back. He blinked a couple of times, trying to recall the events of the previous night before he realized that there wasn't much to recall. The words that had been exchanged could hardly qualify as a conversation. He didn't realize until Dan shifted in his sleep that they were still connected. He wasn't sure what he was feeling as he pulled his hand away.

The sudden movement woke Dan, who rubbed his eyes as he looked at Phil, "Are you okay?" He asked, voice coming out gruff.

"Yeah," Phil replied, standing and walking to the door without warning, "Yeah, I just have to go, have to go see my girlfriend," He didn't actually have plans with her that day, but he knew that he needed to see her.

Dan watched as Phil all but ran from the room, the same feeling he felt the day everything change dawning back on him. He was alone again, this time in a hospital bed. He huffed, turning over to the best of his ability, wanting nothing more in that moment to be back asleep.

By the end of the night, both boys ended up in their beds, staring up at the ceiling, everything and nothing racing through their minds until sleep finally overtook them.


End file.
